Alex Knight worries he will not be able to continue pursuing his passion despite an NHS workforce crisis
A student nurse who has amassed £100,000 of debt training to work in the NHS is contemplating leaving the profession to join the police as he has been unable to secure a job.
Alex Knight, 26, from Nottingham, has spent five years working towards his dream but worries he will not be able to continue to pursuing his passion because, like many of his peers, he is struggling to get a nursing role.
This is despite 81 per cent of nursing staff saying there are not enough nurses to meet patients’ needs safely, according to analysis by the Royal College of Nursing. It is estimated that there is a shortfall of tens of thousands of nurses driven by factors such as an ageing workforce leaving the sector, burnout, and the pandemic. Latest data from NHS England recorded 25,632 registered nurse vacancies as of 31 March 2025.
Nurses and midwives must apply to join the register of the Nursing and Midwifery Council and receive a unique PIN to work in the UK. But Mr Knight said some are waiting months after qualification to receive theirs.
The Health Secretary has vowed to “cut red tape so student nurses can begin their job as soon as possible, ending the ridiculous situation where thousands of students wait months after qualifying to get on the wards and start treating patients”.
As part of the Government’s proposals nurses will also be offered faster payment of expenses, more training in the community, and better food in hospitals under new plans to improve working conditions.
Mew neighbourhood health services will also be rolled out across the country to bring tests, post-op care, nursing and mental health teams closer to people’s homes.
‘Please cut the red tape’
Mr Knight welcomes the plans to address bureaucratic barriers preventing qualified nurses from taking up jobs for months but says this is only part of the problem.
He told The i Paper: “If cutting the red tape means speeding up the NMC registration process – I’ve got friends who were on my previous course, and it took them over three months between finishing their course and starting having their pin from the NMC.
“So able to work if it means speeding that process up, absolutely that’s going to be a welcome change. I think it’s something that needs to happen. That gets people into the jobs that they’ve got, if they’ve got them.”
The Health Secretary has a 10-year plan for the NHS (Photo: Hugh Hastings/Getty)
Mr Knight has spent months applying for nursing roles, with those he is eligible for in short supply and attracting hundreds of applicants. He said policymakers need to be honest about what the “real red tape” is.
Mr Knight adds: “The real barrier is that the lack of funding given to trusts to actually employ newly qualified nurses. The posts aren’t there because the money’s not there.
“It’s not bureaucratic red tape. That’s a political choice. The system’s basically just tying its own hands and then calling it red tape. So I think we need systemic change to resolve the crisis, and it’s only going to come down from Westminster.”
‘We need urgent action’
Mr Knight, who still wants to practise his passion, called for urgent action to be taken to address the employment challenges the current cohort of newly qualified and qualifying nurses face.
He said his peers are excelling in other professions after qualifying as nurses but not being able to get work as one, with one friend graduating and then enrolling in supermarket Lidl’s management pathway due to better pay and conditions.
Results from the RCN’s 2024 Last Shift survey showed 54 per cent of nurses said they have considered leaving their role.
Mr Knight has applied to become a detective as an effective “fail-safe” option. But he feels “completely heartbroken” by the thought of not being able to realise his career as a nurse.
“My dream is to be a nurse. I made the choice to commit the rest of my life to helping other people, and I’ve put a lot of money into being able to do that. And now I’ve got massive debt, and I’m faced with harsh reality that I might never do it.
Reflecting on the costs, he said: “It’s about £60,000 for the three years and then mine’s another round [of] about £20,000 for the extra two years. So I’m looking at about £100,000 all in.”
Responding to announcements by the Health Secretary in The i Paper, RCN general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “These modest changes may improve the experience for current nursing students but more is needed to boost student and nurse staffing levels in the face of the current crisis.”
Professor Ranger added that Streeting must also “ensure there are jobs for all graduates to go into at a time when staffing levels are dangerously low across the health service”.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable some nurses are experiencing difficulties securing a role after qualifying.
“We are working on a refreshed workforce plan to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to treat patients on time again.
“This government is also investing in our nurses by delivering the second above inflation pay increase in 10 months. That means that for the first time ever, a nurse will earn over £30,000 as a new starter.”